By BARRY LEWIS Sports Writer on Jan 25, 2013, at 2:49 PM Updated on 1/27 at 7:29 PM
ORU SPORTS
Oral Roberts’ first trip to the Southland Conference baseball tournament was pretty much like its entire season. Every time ...
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On Thursday night, Oral Roberts University retired Mark Acres' uniform number 42 during a ceremony at halftime of the Golden Eagles' victory over Lamar.
Acres recalled some of his most memorable moments, including a win over Kansas, playing Oklahoma in the NIT and playing against Nolan Richardson's Tulsa teams.
I attended many of his games during his ORU career. Below are my five most memorable Mark Acres moments at ORU:
1. Memphis State 92, ORU 83 (March 15, 1984): Acres was usually at his best in the biggest games and his lone NCAA Tournament appearance was no exception. He had 28 points and 18 rebounds in the loss at Memphis. The host Tigers would reach the Sweet 16, where they lost a close game to eventual runner-up Houston.
2. ORU 73, Kansas 71, OT (Jan. 6, 1983): In his father, Dick Acres' first game as ORU's head coach, ORU desperately needed a win after the controversial firing of popular Ken Hayes as head coach. Mark Acres had 28 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Titans to the overtime victory at Mabee Center. Kansas coach Ted Owens would succeed Dick Acres as ORU coach in 1985.
3. ORU 84, Texas A&M 66 (Dec. 10, 1983): Acres had 35 points in the victory over the Aggies that came right after a victory over Oklahoma State and jump-started the season that started 0-2 and ended with the Titans in the NCAA Tournament.
4. Tulsa 84, ORU 78 (Jan. 12, 1984): In a matchup of two NCAA Tournament teams, Acres had 25 points and 21 rebounds in a losing cause.
5. ORU 74, Evansville 69 (March 8, 1985): In the Midwestern Collegiate Conference semifinals, Acres reached 2,000 career points with a key basket and finished with 24 points to lift ORU at Mabee Center. Acres had 27 points the next night in a valiant effort in an 89-83 title game loss to Loyola, which reached the Sweet 16.
-- Barry Lewis
